Recruiting Research & Best Practices
Where to start
Eighty percent of graduate applicants are considered "stealth applicants," meaning we do not know their names until they apply. Your webpage is the front door to your program and might be the only door they walk through. The website must be easy to read with relevant content that answers their most pressing questions. How do they apply? What will they study? What makes your program remarkable? Will they get a job after graduating?
Most important to include:
Most important to include:
- Application Requirements
- Deadlines
- Career and post-credential opportunitites
- Cost
- Any tuition assistance and funding opportunities
- Curririculum details
- Admission criteria
- Deadlines/start dates
- 'Apply' button
- Tuition/cost (without having to calculate credits x fees/credits)
- Merit aid, scholarships, assistantship opportunities
- Time to complete/program duration
- Career outcomes/labor market data for field
- Program differentiators
- Fomat (online, in-person, hybrid)
- Student/alumni testimonials about impact
- Contact info for a person who will provide quick response
- Mobile-friendly
- Photos of real students
- Organized with most important content easily accessible
- Language clear and written for a lay audience
Interactive webinars are one of the easiest ways to reach people who are interested in your program. They create a more personal connection between you and potential students. Graduate Recruitment can help you set up webinars and promote them
By 2031, 60% of graduate school applicants will be Generation Z. They expect quick, accurate, and customized responses to their questions. Learn more about Gen Z expectations.
When assessing your program, consider the following:
When assessing your program, consider the following:
- How fast do interested applicants recieve a response about your program?
- Are you able to leverage the context of an applicant by seeing past communications, event attendance, and other contact via use of the CRM?
- Are the most pressing questions easily found and answered on your website?
- What barriers and delays can be eliminated?
Simply put, get contact information into the CRM. Graduate recruitment can assist with this (gradapply@ksu.edu).
Get prospects’ contact information into the CRM as soon as possible. This enables more personalized communications and a deeper analysis of your prospect pool.
At minimum, our CRM requires:
Get prospects’ contact information into the CRM as soon as possible. This enables more personalized communications and a deeper analysis of your prospect pool.
At minimum, our CRM requires:
- Name
- Program of Interest
Whether talking to a prospective student on a campus visit or updating your brochures, be sure you clearly articulate why someone should attend K-State and, specifically, enroll in your program. Your personal experience is valuable. You can say things like, “Can I tell you why I love teaching at K-State?” or “Let me tell you about (a program, student, or alumnus) who is doing amazing work.”